Mastermind
of the Christmas day bomb blast that killed about 44 persons and
wounded 75 others at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger
State, in 2011, Kabiru Umar, alias Kabiru Sokoto, was yesterday,
sentenced to life imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
Delivering
his judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, said he
was satisfied that the Federal Government, successfully established the
culpability of the convict beyond every reasonable doubt, noting that
Umar had in two earlier separate confessional statements, admitted that
he had prior knowledge of the attack.
Besides, the court stressed
that the accused person, throughout the trial, never showed any remorse
for his actions, describing him as “a pathological liar with no regards
for the truth.”
Kabiru Sokoto
The
court observed that the convict had in a statement he voluntarily made
on January 14, 2012, shortly after he was arrested, confessed that he
was a key member of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
Justice
Adeniyi read a portion of the said statement where the convict stated
thus, “here in Abaji, nobody knows that I am a Boko Haram member, much
so, I have about 500 children that I teach Quran”, adding that ‘Sokoto’,
on page four of his statement, confessed that under his supervision,
“the Madalla church bombing was carried out by one Bashir Mohammed,
Muhktar Kafanchan and others who I cannot remember their names now.”
The
court further noted that one of the eight Boko Haram members the
accused gave AK-47 rifles and directed to bomb police stations and other
government agencies in Sokoto State, exposed the operations of the sect
and fingered ‘Kabiru Sokoto’ as the person in charge of the
coordination of bomb attacks after he was caught by a team of policemen
during a shoot out.
Likewise, the Judge, observed that Umar, had
in his evidence before the court, admitted that he not only obtained
four credits in the West African School Certificate Examination, WASCE,
but was also a laboratory technician by profession, but feigned that he
did not understand the English Language during trial.
“This court
finds that the accused person was economical with the truth right from
the beginning of this trial when he claimed that he does not understand
English. The accused person was not a credible witness.
“The
prosecution has proved its case beyond every reasonable doubt.
Accordingly, the accused person is guilty as charged under count one of
the amended charge. This court states categorically that going by the
confessional statements of the accused person, his testimony before the
court and that of the witnesses, he was the mastermind of the terrorist
attack at St Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger state.
“The
evidence against him was unequivocal, positive and direct. This attack
was carried out on a Christmas day, a day both Christians, Muslims and
even Jews celebrate all over the world. For a person to have a sinister
motive on that kind of day is highly condemnable.
The accused
person showed no remorse throughout the trial. I also take cognizance of
the fact that his character did not depict a person who is sincere to
the truth.
“In the final analysis, I find you Kabiru Umar alias
Kabiru Sokoto, guilty and I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment in
count one and 10 years in count two. Both sentences are to run
consecutively, one after the other,” the judge held.
Meanwhile,
the court, yesterday, directed the police to forthwith, conduct an
in-depth investigation with a view to ascertaining who the convict went
to see at the Borno State Governor’s lodge on the day he was eventually
arrested by undercover police men.
“Judicial notice should be
taken that members of the organization have infiltrated various organs
of government. The police should investigate circumstances that
surrounded his visit to that lodge. Police owe a duty to Nigerians to
investigate and arrest whoever was involved in sponsorship of acts of
terrorism regardless of who such person is or his status in the
society,” the judge added.
Earlier in his
allocutus,
‘Sokoto’ had through his lawyer, Mr. Hassan Lukman, asked the court to
temper justice with mercy, as he had aged parents, a wife and two
children that depended on him for their living.
Lukman told the
court that prior to the trial, his client, was never arrested or charged
before any court in Nigeria, adding that he had been under detention
for over two years and “never had the opportunity of seeing his aged
parents, siblings and most importantly his wife and children.” His plea
was however ignored by the court.
Meantime, Sokoto, who had
earlier filed a N300million suit against the government over alleged
torture, through his team of lawyers, has vowed to appeal against the
judgement.
The convict was on May 20, 2013, arraigned before the court on an amended two-count terrorism charge.
Aside
allegations that he trained over 500 men on how to manufacture and
detonate Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, the Federal Government,
alleged that he had prior knowledge that the sect planned to bomb the
church on Christmas day but failed to disclose it to any law enforcement
officer as soon as reasonably practicable.
He was said to have
between 2007 and 2012, at Mabira Sokoto, Sokoto State, facilitated the
commission of terrorist acts including planting bombs at the police
headquarters and some government organizations in the state. He was
charged under Section 15(2) of the EFCC Act, 2011, and Section 17 of the
Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011.
The government told the court that the accused person instituted his terrorist training camp at Abaji, a suburb town in Abuja.
Though he was previously arrested by the police in Abuja on January 14, 2012, Sokoto was declared missing two days later.
His
mysterious escape from custody culminated to the sack of the erstwhile
Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim and former Commissioner of
Police in-charge of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Zakari
Biu who was out rightly dismissed from the force. However, he was
subsequently re-arrested on February 10, 2012.
The last
prosecution witness, told the court that ‘Sokoto’, confessed that one of
the recognized leaders of the sect, Shekau, told him that only members
of the sect initiated into the “Shurah” cadre, were allowed to know the
ideology behind the current insurgency in the northern part of the
country.
The masked witness told the court that Sokoto disclosed
that whereas members of the “Shurah” which he belong to, plan and
mastermind attacks, other lay members were recruited to execute
terrorist agenda of the sect.
However, Sokoto, through his lawyer,
faulted the testimony of the masked witness, maintaining that in his
confessional statement, he repeatedly used the Hausa word “Anche,” a
word he said means “they said.”
He told the court that he was only referring to what he was told by those affiliated to the sect.
One of the six witnesses that testified in the matter also narrated how a donation of N40million divided the sect.
According to the witness, Sokoto had in a statement he made on January
14, 2012, confessed that out of the said N40million which he said was
received from another terrorist group in Algeria, he got N500, 000, as
the recognized governor of Sokoto State in the hierarchy of the group.
He
told the court that the convict also admitted that he used his share of
the money and bought Quran and other Islamic religious books, even as
he allegedly volunteered the names of two members of the sect that
bombed the St Theresa’s Catholic Church,Madalla, on Christmas day.
The
witness who was simply identified as “Mr. ABC” testified that the
accused person confessed that it was not suicide bombers that attacked
the church, but that the bombs were detonated from a car that was parked
near the church.
Furthermore, another witness, “Mr. DEF”,
narrated how Sokoto hid behind a wardrobe on February 10, 2012, a day he
was re-arrested at Sabongida in Taraba State, few days after he escaped
from police custody in Abuja.
The witness who is an operative of
the Department of State Services, DSS, told the court that upon his
arrest, Sokoto was found with a Nokia phone and six different SIM cards.
The
court had on May 2, 2013, declined to either discharge and acquit the
accused person, or quash the charge against him, maintaining that a
prima-facie terrorism charge was successfully established against him.
- See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/catholic-church-bombing-court-sentences-kabiru-sokoto-life-imprisonment/#sthash.uBuDxEA2.dpuf
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